Archive for the tag “Heuer”

With all the travelling at present it’s taken a while to put together some of my memories from Goodwood, 2013. In short, it was a magnificent event. I don’t think we’re ever going to see as many Jim Clark cars together again in one place. To me, none of this represents “the past”. Instead, it is our lifeblood; it is what motor racing was, and still is, all about

Captions, from top: One of the most significant racing cars of all time: Jim Clark’s 1965 Indy-winning Lotus 38-Ford. Trucked over to the Ford Museum straight after the race, it has only recently been again fired-up and restored; wearing a new set of Hinchman overalls (complete with Enco badge), and of course Jim Clark driving gloves, Dario Franchitti took the 38 for a few laps of Goodwood; the Lotus 56 Turbine Indy car of 1968 – futuristic then, as now. Jim tested the 56 after the Tasman Series and was looking forward to racing it in May; cockpit of Jim Clark’s 1966 US GP-winning Lotus 43-BRM. The car’s new owner, Andy Middlehurst, was aware that Jock Russell (who bought the car from Team Lotus in 1967) quickly discarded the original, red, upholstery and replaced it with a tartan job (!) but was delighted to find that the the seat and interior that Jim had used at the Glen in ’66 were still in perfect condition in Jock’s barn. They are in the car now; the Lotus 43-BRM in its glory. The amazingly complex 3-litre H16 engine started virtually first turn and ran perfectly at Goodwood; a beautiful restoration job, too, on a 1.5 litre flat-12, 1965 Ferrari. It would have been great to have seen this car in blue-and-white NART colours but someone at Ferrari (Maranello) demanded that it be painted red before heritage papers could be issued. Shame; grid-side view of Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss in the Border Reivers Aston DBR31/300 with which Jim Clark and Roy Salvadori finished third at Le Mans in 1960; Jim’s girl-friend at the time, Sally Stokes (now Swart), holds the Heuer stopwatch that Jim gave her in early 1964. Jim had been presented with this watch at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show and Sally used it on the Team Lotus pit stand throughout ’64-’65. It still works perfectly; three road cars much-used by Jim Clark: the 1961-’62 Hobbs-automatic-transmission Lotus Elite; his 1967 left-hand-drive Lotus Elan S3; and Ian Scott-Watson’s 1965 Elan S3, build by Jock McBain’s boys and used by Jim up in Scotland throughout that summer of ’65; it was brilliant to see again a 1963 Australian-made Lynx Formula Junior (left). To my eye, this is still one of the most beautiful little racing cars ever built; and it’s always a special treat to see real drivers in real cars. Here’s Sir John Whitmore in a factory Lotus Cortina. Images: Peter Windsor Collection